Body armor vest and method of manufacture

Abstract

A ballistic panel carrier vest with front and rear ballistic panel carrying pockets and a trauma plate pocket has front, rear and side portions, as well as epaulets, breast pockets with flap closures and buttoned placket front opening that look like the same elements of an underlying shirt so that the fact of wearing the vest is concealed. The vest is made from a shirt of the type over which it will be worn by cutting off the collar and sleeves, and either cutting the shirt tail off at the waist or folding it under. Loose edges of epaulets, breast pocket flaps and placket are sewn down.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method of making a ballistic panel carrier vest comprising the steps of: constructing a vest-type garment having an outer front portion and an outer back portion with each portion having an outer appearance substantially identical to a conventional uniform, said garment being characterized by a generally V-shape, collarless neck opening and a pair of arm openings coincidental with a sleeve attachment area on the conventional uniform, said front portion being further characterized by an outer surface having at least one front pocket having a flap with a button, and a plurality of spaced buttons sewn in a vertical array extending downward from centrally of said neck opening;   sewing a first inner layer of fabric to an inside surface of the front portion of the garment to define a front inner pocket between said first inner layer and said front outer portion for receiving a front ballistic panel in a front torso protecting position;   sewing a second inner layer of fabric to an inside surface of the back portion of the garment to define a back inner pocket between said second inner layer and said outer back portion for receiving a back ballistic panel in a back torso protecting position;   inserting a ballistic panel in each of the front inner pocket and back inner pocket;   providing at least one side opening in the garment extending from one of the arm openings to a lower edge of the garment; and   attaching a hook and pile type fastening means along the at least one side opening to permit the garment to be drawn snugly about a wearer.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1 and including the further steps of: dividing each of the first and second inner layers of fabric into an upper segment and a lower segment;   sewing one of the upper and lower segments to the respective inside surfaces of the garment such that the one segment has at least a portion thereof overlapping a portion of the other of the upper and lower segments;   attaching hook and pile fasteners to the upper and lower segments in correspondence with their respective overlapping portions for sealing the ballistic panels into the pockets formed between the inner layers and the garment.